Fagin
Fagin is a character in Disney's Oliver & Company. He is a pickpocket and the owner of Dodger, Tito, Einstein, Rita, Francis, and Oliver (formerly). He was voiced by the late Dom DeLuise. Description Fagin is a skinny half bald man with orange-red hair and a pink nose wearing a green raincoat, red undershirt, red hat, brown gloves with fingers cut in half, blue pants, and sneakers. Despite being a thief, Fagin is actually a good man driven to drastic measures to repay a debt to his evil boss, Bill Sykes. Incidentally, he appreciates the love and attention of his dogs and sometimes sees them as his own children. At one point, he proves to be somewhat illiterate as shown when misspelling a few words on a map he drew for a ransom rendez-vous point with Oliver's owner, Jenny Foxworth, who remains unknown to him yet. At the end, he proves to be brave and not without a sense of honor and morality, playing a strong part in saving Jenny from Sykes. He is shown to be kind, caring, cowardly, friendly, gentle, nice, generous, good-hearted, shrewd, and clumsy. Appearances ''Oliver & Company In his barge, Fagin returns with dog biscuits, which he probably bought or stole, in hand only to find his dogs: Dodger, Tito, Francis, Einstein, and Rita playing in a dogpile fight. He yells at them and tells them to stop their game "fight", which grabs their attention. When they notice the dog biscuits in his hands, they leap onto him and give him an unexpected warm welcome; licking his face despite his protests. Just as he is enjoying himself, Sykes, Fagin's evil boss to whom he has been lent a considerable sum of money, arrives when Fagin hears a honking noise outside. He looks at the "loot" the dogs brought for him to pay back Sykes and is disappointed to find it to be all nothing but broken rubbish. Then, Fagin discovers Oliver but before he can examine him, Sykes' two Dobermans, Roscoe and DeSoto, come in and shoo him out to talk with their master while they taunt his dogs as Oliver hides from them. Having no other choice, Fagin heads up to the dock to offer the items to Sykes in his car anyway. However, Sykes is apparently disappointed; stating that he simply wants his money and not Fagin's garbage. Desperate, Fagin begs him for more time. Due to the possible knowledge that dead men can't pay money back, Sykes gives him three more days. Realizing that's not enough time, Fagin starts to worry; stating he's "having a bad day." Then, Sykes honks his horn to call his dogs back, startling Fagin, causing him to lose his balance and fall off the dock and into the bay. Later, Fagin returns, all wet and sad, to the barge; lamenting that he simply can't pay off all that money in just three days. The dogs do everything they can to cheer him up with Einstein, mostly, giving him a dog biscuit to eat. Fagin is rejoiced and thanks them to which Einstein replies with some more love and affection through licking. Then, he tells them he saw DeSoto's nose, which was scratched by Oliver when attempting to eat him, and asks who did it. Dodger picks up and reveals Oliver to him, meaning he's the one who did it. Impressed, Fagin states that they could use all the help they can get and accepts Oliver in the gang. When it's time for bed, Einstein insists Fagin reads them a bedtime story. At first, Fagin is reluctant since he is too tired, but when he hears and sees Einstein whining sadly, Fagin accepts "but just 1 chapter tonight." During the story reading, Fagin asks Francis to demonstrate a real bark when he notices Francis giving him a puzzled look since his barking imitation wasn't really dog-like, which he does perfectly well. Later, Fagin sleeps with Einstein and Oliver (momentarily) sleeping on his lap. The next day, Fagin leaves Dodger responsible for Oliver, who along with the gang are riding in his scooter, and informs the dogs that "Dead men do not buy dog food." Thus, telling them to "smile big, get out there, and fetch" while he finds a way to earn or even steal money. The dogs and Oliver go on the hunt for money, merchandise, and food after agreeing with Dodger about helping Fagin with his financial problems with Sykes. During the day, Fagin tries to pawn some of his broken wares at a pawn shop but to no avail. At the end of the second day, Fagin, depressed, returns home after an unsuccessful attempt to earn or even steal money as he takes Oliver back in, who now has a new home and owner since yesterday until he was "rescued" by the dogs and who was trying (with great sadness and sorrow) to go back. After noticing Oliver's gold collar and the address inscribed on it, Fagin suddenly comes up with an idea of ransoming him, which just might help him with his current problem since all his other previous attempts have failed. At night, after dropping off a ransom note and rendez-vous map to Oliver's owner, Jenny Foxworth (unknown to him yet) during the day, Fagin goes with Dodger to Sykes' warehouse where he goes over his plan about the ransom while pretending that Dodger is Sykes before entering the place. After entering the warehouse and Sykes is done talking on the phone with an unknown hit-man, Fagin discusses his plan with Sykes but awkwardly at first due to his fear of the gangster, which causes Sykes to lose his patience and snap his fingers to order his Dobermans to attack him. Luckily, Dodger jumps into the scene and fights them off while Fagin discusses his plan properly and loudly this time and shows him Oliver as proof. Once Sykes is convinced, he snaps his fingers again to order his Dobermans to cease the attack. Unfortunately, due to the attack, Dodger lays injured and unconscious on the floor with severe (but invisible) injuries as Fagin and Oliver come to his aid after Sykes notices the address inscribed on Oliver's collar and gives Fagin 12 hours left as his "last chance"; assuming that Fagin is planning to kidnap Oliver's owner instead. On the same night, Fagin begins to worry as he waits for Oliver's owner (Jenny) at their rendez-vous since she is late. At first, Fagin begins to worry even more when he assumes that Oliver's owner might be someone "huge and mean" until Jenny accidentally surprises him from behind when trying to ask him for directions, which causes Fagin to panic, freak out, and accidentally get himself tied up momentarily. After breaking loose from his bonds, Fagin meets Jenny and her pet poodle, Georgette while Sykes and his dogs unknowingly watch them in his car from a distance. Not realizing at first that Jenny is actually Oliver's wealthy owner, Fagin advises her to go home; given the tough neighborhood she's in. When she tells him that she's lost, Fagin is more than willing to help but is kind of busy right now. Then, he asks her what is she doing at the shipyards by herself in the first place. Suddenly, he is clearly shocked when she tells him that she came to get her stolen cat back and has brought nothing more than a piggy bank as payment. Fagin tries defending the "kidnapper" saying he is a "poor desperate man" in order to cheer Jenny up a bit but she still breaks down into tears anyway when she gets scared and doesn't know what to do. Fagin, at first, has a hard decision about whether to follow his good heart or not and feels guilty to see Jenny and Oliver sad. Finally, Fagin gives up the ransom, pretends to find Oliver in a box, and hands him to Jenny. Unfortunately, Sykes bursts into the scene, kidnaps Jenny, throws Oliver out of the window, and tells Fagin to keep his mouth shut and to consider their account closed. Then, Dodger and the gang come to Oliver's aid. Dodger assures Oliver that they'll "absitively" get Jenny back. Oliver and the dogs run to Sykes' warehouse without riding in Fagin's scooter this time. After Oliver and the dogs rescue Jenny at Sykes' warehouse, Fagin arrives just in time and saves them from Sykes in his scooter. Things turn out okay when outrunning the two evil dogs chasing them on foot until Sykes catches up with them in his car. Having no other alternative, Fagin drives his friends into a subway station. Nevertheless, Sykes; driving like a madman, is able to drive into the station as well. Going through a tunnel, Sykes is still in pursuit. During the chase, Jenny is thrown onto the hood of Sykes' car after it collides with Fagin's scooter. Oliver helps Jenny, later Dodger, and Dodger helps Oliver; killing Roscoe and DeSoto in the process. On the Brooklyn Bridge, when Jenny calls for Fagin's help, Fagin, with Einstein holding him so as not to fall, comes to help her while Tito takes command of his scooter; despite Georgette gripping onto him in fear for a while. Sykes manages to grab Jenny's leg and pull her back in until Oliver and Dodger jump on him and fight him off; allowing Jenny to jump to Fagin on his scooter. In front of them, a train is coming their way. Luckily, Tito is capable of saving everyone by jumping on one of the cables of the bridge and driving them to the top but Oliver and Dodger are still in the car; fighting Sykes off. Sykes throws Oliver and Dodger out of his car until he notices the train heading his way and the train kills him, thus, sending him and his car into the Hudson River. When the rest of the company drive back down, Jenny runs to search for Oliver, only to find a Dodger, with great sadness, approaching and holding him, thinking he's dead. But when a small meow comes out of Oliver, everyone including Dodger is glad to know this means he's still alive, except Georgette, who is still in great shock from the chase. Then, Dodger and the rest of the gang are accepted as Jenny's new best friends. The next day, at Jenny's home, Oliver and his friends are celebrating Jenny's 8th birthday and giving her birthday gifts. During the celebration, Fagin meets Winston, the Foxworths' butler, sings "Happy Birthday" with him to Jenny, and later, makes a bet with him on the outcome of a wrestling match on T.V. During the bet, Fagin is told to keep it down by Winston while he's on the phone with Jenny's parents; telling him they will be back the next day, apparently earlier than expected, probably as an unexpected beautiful surprise for Jenny. Delighted by the news, which he agrees with his employers to help keep as a surprise for Jenny, and after hanging up, Winston puts his mind back into the match. When Fagin's fighter loses and he can't pay up, he sidles out of the house by using the time to leave as an excuse while grabbing an apple on his way before driving off with his dogs. Then, he and Jenny say their good-byes to each other. Outside the mansion, after Fagin starts up his scooter, Winston accidentally gets smudged by its smoke exhaust. Free from his debt by Sykes and with him and his dogs dead, Fagin is now free to start a new, more honest life, or at the very least, his previous life of petty crime from time to time. He drives in his scooter with the gang singing a reprise of "Why Should I Worry" as Jenny, Winston, and Oliver say good-bye to them and watch them return home. ''House of Mouse In the episode "House of Genius", Fagin appears along with Kaa, Ronno, Governor Ratcliffe, Bongo, one of the 99 dalmatian puppies, Johnny Appleseed, Cinderella, Ratigan, Prince Charming, Sonia, a Rhino, Pecos Bill, Colonel, and Tigger while waiting at the entrance for a seat and table. In "Goofy's Menu Magic", Fagin appears with the same characters (except for Cinderella, Prince Charming, the Rhino, Pecos Bill, and Tigger replaced by Genie, a Centaurette, Tito, Pinocchio, Baloo, and Rachel instead) waiting to get their next "magic" meal served by Goofy. Gallery For more images, click here. Trivia *It is never explained how a poor man like Fagin came to be in possession of such valuable purebreds like his dog friends, although it is possible that he either stole them or found them as strays and took them under his wing at some point. *In one of the earliest stages of production, the artists came up with four possible places for Fagin and his dogs to live in. The first was an old abandoned subway station, the second was a condemned building near the docks, which in the past had been a very famous theater, the third was in the sewers beneath the Plaza Hotel, and the fourth was his boathouse, which ended up being chosen for story purposes. *Fagin wears four (presumably stolen) watches on his left arm. One of them has a picture of Mickey Mouse on it. *Although it is stated in the film that Fagin owes money to Sykes, it is never mentioned what the exact amount was or when Fagin borrowed the money. *Dom DeLuise, Fagin's voice actor, was actually famous for voicing several characters from Don Bluth's movies until his death such as Jeremy in The Secret of NIMH, Tiger in An American Tail, Itchy in All Dogs Go to Heaven, and Stanley in A Troll in Central Park. He already had roles in several other animated films by this point, but this was the only time he got the chance to voice a character in a Disney film. He loved the role so much, he kept ad-libbing lines that ended up being included in the film. *In the original script, there was a flashback scene which explained that Fagin ended up owing money to Sykes, after borrowing it to participate in an illegal poker tournament in Chinatown, where he lost everything. *The man Fagin tries to pawn his watch to is a caricature of Peter Schneider, then vice-president of Disney animation. *During the chase, where Jenny is hanging on the front of Sykes' car, she yells Fagin's name for help. Slightly later, Fagin yells for Jennifer to jump. The two never introduced themselves earlier in the film, yet know each other's names. *During the chase on the bridge, Fagin's scooter jumps from the railway tracks to the bridge support wires. After it makes the jump, there's a medium shot of Dodger and Oliver attacking Sykes. In this shot, the scooter can be briefly seen on the left of the screen riding on the bridge supports. The previously full scooter is now completely empty (with not even a driver). *Fagin may have a gambling problem, as seen with his bet with Winston, despite not having any money. This would explain why he needed money from Sykes in the first place, to pay off his debts. Category:Characters Category:Disney characters Category:Oliver & Company characters Category:Males Category:Adults